#recent-months

#recent-months

A left-leaning Labour MP has claimed a reselection contest has sowed divisions in the constituency party after he lost to a shadow minister.Mick Whitley expressed confusion and disappointment at the National Executive Committee (NEC) decision to hold a vote on the candidacy of his Birkenhead seat.Shadow employment minister Alison McGovern, whose current constituency of Wirral South will be abolished due to a boundary review ahead of the next general election, won the race.

Woking council plans to sever ties with the Northern Irish developer behind a skyscraper venture that helped tip the tiny Surrey local authority into effective bankruptcy.Amid ballooning costs and delays, a dramatic plunge in the value of the council's Victoria Square development which is 52% owned by Moyallen, a business from Dungannon, County Tyrone is at the centre of the local authority's financial meltdown.

Albania is a safe country and people who flee from there to seek sanctuary in the UK should not routinely be granted asylum, according to a report published on Monday from a cross-party group of MPs.The report from the home affairs select committee found little evidence to indicate significant numbers of Albanian nationals were at risk in their own country but accepted that some Albanians making asylum claims, mainly women, had been trafficked.

Donald Trump will appear in a federal courthouse in Miami Tuesday afternoon for an unprecedented and historic court appearance as the first former president to face federal charges in US history.Trump is expected to be taken into custody and placed under arrest by US Marshals and arraigned during a 3 p.m. ET court hearing before a magistrate judge.

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted in the special counsel's classified documents probe, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, a stunning development that marks the first time a former president has faced federal charges.Trump has been charged with seven counts in the indictment, according to another source familiar with the matter.

The surge of flooding around the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine subsided further on Sunday, leaving authorities grappling with a disaster in which at least 13 people have been killed, at least 29 others are reported missing and dozens of communities lack access to clean water.Ukraine's State Emergency Service, local volunteer groups and aid agencies are struggling to respond to the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on Tuesday, which sent a torrent of water from the reservoir upstream coursing into the river basin.

When he was growing up among the Doukhobors, a pacifist religious group that emigrated to Canada from Tsarist Russia, J.J. Verigin would sometimes arrive home from school to find naked elderly women trying to burn down his family's house.One attempt, in 1969, succeeded, lamented Mr. Verigin, 67, who recently recounted the episode.

Jump to content Sign up to our newslettersSubscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Boris Johnson has used his resignation statement to launch an all-out assault on Rishi Sunak amid speculation that he could try and make a comeback.The former prime minister, who quit over a watchdog investigation into his conduct, said he was leaving parliament, but qualified the decision as being for now.

Boris Johnson delivered a withering attack on Rishi Sunak as he quit Parliament, saying there was a need for a properly Conservative government.In a rallying call to his followers, Mr Johnson, who hinted at a comeback even as he walked away from the Commons, hit out at repeated tax hikes and a failure to deliver on the opportunities of Brexit.

Households with traditional prepayment meters have been urged to avoid missing out on 400 worth of help with their bills by June 30, with 130 million still available to be claimed.The Claim Your Energy Voucher Day is a final push to encourage the remaining households to claim their vouchers before the scheme ends in a month.

(Michael Owen Baker/For The Times)

After months of anticipation, El Niño has officially arrived.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced El Niño's emergence on Thursday, advising that the climate pattern could signal another wet winter in Southern California and increased temperatures across the globe, among other effects.

Health leaders have blamed staff shortages for waiting lists reaching another record high, with 7.4 million people waiting to start treatment as of the end of April.One NHS leader said the figures showed that unsustainable pressure continues to pile on an overstretched NHS, and urged the government to speed up publication of its long-awaited workforce plan, which has been repeatedly postponed.

The government has made a new offer in a bid to end a dispute over pay and jobs with civil servants, unions bosses have said.Union officials said civil servants below senior grades had been offered a lump sum of £1,500 for 2022/23.Civil servants have staged strikes in recent months, with unions calling for pay to reflect the rising cost of living.

The flow of fresh homes coming on the market reached its strongest level in nearly two years in May, figures from surveyors indicate.The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said a net balance of 14% of property professionals reported seeing new instructions to sell rising rather than falling in May, marking the best reading for new property listings since March 2021.

Households with traditional prepayment meters have been urged to avoid missing out on 400 worth of help with their bills by June 30, with 130 million still available to be claimed.The Claim Your Energy Voucher Day is a final push to encourage the remaining households to claim their vouchers before the scheme ends in a month.

Humza Yousaf has accused Scottish Labour of hubris, claiming they believe they have already won the next general election.Scotland's First Minister kicked off a summer of campaigning in his Glasgow Pollok constituency on Saturday, saying the SNP would not lose seats at the next election expected next year.

M onkeypox vaccinations in London will be extended following a spike in cases, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced.The nationwide vaccination programme against monkeypox was due to close at the end of the July.After 11 new cases were recorded in the capital over the last few weeks, the programme will now run beyond July in order to keep the spread of the virus down.

Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi says he has had nothing to do with the takeover of Manchester United.BBC Sport understands Al-Khelaifi was contacted by the Glazer family a month ago as United's owners tried to get Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to raise his offer.Al-Khelaifi's involvement has led to suggestions of a wider Qatari involvement around Sheikh Jassim's bid.

Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondentJun 15, 2023, 05:00 AM ET


"It will really p--- me off not to go to the World Cup, but my values come first," Barcelona and Spain defender Mapi Leon said in March.This week, she was one of the big absentees, along with club teammate Patri Guijarro, from the 30-player provisional squad announced by coach Jorge Vilda for this summer's Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Sony's WF-1000XM5 flagship true wireless earbuds have been leaking a lot in recent months, and this means their launch is definitely nearing - in fact, a new source claims they will finally get official within the next few days.Right before that, we have a few more leaked details about the pair.The WF-1000XM5 are very light, at just 5.9g.

The European Union took an important step on Wednesday toward passing what would be one of the first major laws to regulate artificial intelligence, a potential model for policymakers around the world as they grapple with how to put guardrails on the rapidly developing technology.The European Parliament, a main legislative branch of the E.U., passed a draft law known as the A.I. Act, which would put new restrictions on what are seen as the technology's riskiest uses.

WASHINGTON The military partnership between Moscow and Tehran is deepening, White House officials said on Friday as they released newly declassified information about a drone factory that Iran is helping Russia build.Russia has repeatedly used Iranian-made drones to attack Ukraine in recent months, including strikes on civilian targets, buildings and electrical infrastructure as part of a push to break Ukrainian morale.

Volunteers were disappointed by a lackluster city response at a meeting Monday nightto their request to enter temporary city-run shelters starting this week, following months of not being able to get inside the buildings that house nearly 10,000 migrants who have come to Chicago since August.Collaboration efforts between volunteers and city officials came to a head when the city hosted a closed meeting to respond to a letter sent by the Police Station Response Team, a network of volunteers providing support and resources to migrants sleeping on the floors of police stations as they wait for placement in shelters.

On another front, Zelman & Associates, per news reports, estimates that institutional investors as of yearend 2022 had dedicated some $110 billion to acquire or build SFR homes, a sign there is still plenty of money available for dealmaking ahead.Brandon Lwowski, director of research at proptech firm HouseCanary, said the slowdown in SFR home purchases by large investors started to show up in the third quarter of last year and escalated from there into the first quarter of 2023.

Freddie Mac announced on Wednesday a new affordable housing program, HeritageOne, that is intended to boost homeownership rates in Native American communities.The program aims to provide affordable financing options for single-family properties on tribal lands found in rural areas of the nation.The goal is to widen homeownership access in these communities.

More than 50 years after the Beatles broke up, Paul McCartney said artificial intelligence helped create one last Beatles song that will be released later this year.The song was made using a demo with John Lennon's voice, McCartney said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that was released on Tuesday.He did not give the title of the song or offer any clues about its lyrics.

Nicholls is not an average teen in strength.On June 11, 2023, teenage powerlifter Morgan Nicholls shared an Instagram clip of himself scoring a raw 238.1-kilogram (525-pound) bench press during a training session.According to the caption of the 16-year-old athlete's post, the upper body feat marked a personal record (PR) for the competitor.

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Google prepares to open access to its new transparency tool; tech giants withdraw from Hong Kong and mainland China; and the EU advances its clampdown on crypto.Google to open access for transparency tool
Google is set to open access to a new ad tech tool to help publishers and buyers track ad fees.

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Apple reveals its news VR headset; SHEIN launches a new ESG focused framework; and security firm De.Fi reports crypto investors lost millions to scams.Apple announces new VR headset
Apple has revealed its new virtual reality headset, its first major product in almost a decade.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' crass stunt of flying desperate immigrants to California and dumping them on the doorstep of a Catholic Diocese headquarters showed us one thing: He's not fit to be America's president.It's not because of his sensible view that we must gain more control of our southern border.

(California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

After a two-year wind-down, California is in the final weeks of closing its notoriously grim youth prison system, a landmark moment that arrives as juvenile crime hovers at near-record lows and state leaders call for a shift in focus from punishment to rehabilitation.

(Image credit: Future/nhciao on Reddit)
We've seen all sorts of weird and wonderful uses of AI over the last few months, from terrifyingly realistic deepfakes to expanded album covers.But while AI-generated QR codes might not sound the most exciting use of the tech, they're actually pretty stunning to look at.

After months of anticipation, Ukraine's forces newly trained on complex warfare tactics and armed with billions of dollars in sophisticated Western weaponry launched operations on multiple fronts in the past week in an effort to dislodge entrenched Russian military units, a counteroffensive that many officials in the United States and Europe say could be a turning point in the 15-month war.

France's top food companies are to cut prices on hundreds of products from next month with the country's government threatening financial sanctions if they break that promise.As soon as July, prices of certain products will go down, the finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, told BFM TV on Friday after meeting representatives of the food industry the previous day.

The remains of the Kakhovka Dam as seen by satellite on June 7, 2023.Seismologists claim to have seen an explosive signal around the time of the dam's collapse.Maxar Technologies Seismic stations in Ukraine and Romania detected what appears to be an explosion at the Kakhovka Dam on the morning that it failed, Norwegian seismologists tell NPR.

After a 5-2 vote on Wednesday evening, the San Francisco Police Commission will take the creation of a new social media policy out of the police department's hands - sending a firm message about who sets policy for the SFPD.As part of the resolution it passed on Wednesday, the commission also ordered Police Chief Bill Scott to rescind two "bureau orders" issued in recent months by the SFPD.

The city has erected new fences with police insignia around the Mission District McDonald's late last week, in an apparent effort to push street vendors and unhoused residents out of the area altogether.In recent months, unlicensed vendors have proliferated at the 24th and Mission BART plazas and spilled over onto nearby blocks.

Three days after the 2022-23 season officially came to a close and Juventus, at least publicly, have not given us any indication that the club is about to change managers.This is just the latest instance.Juventus CEO Maurizio Scanavino was the latest to back manager Max Allegri, telling Sky Sport Italia on Wednesday that the veteran coach "has never been under discussion" and that "there is a total agreement on all future scenarios."

Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch were flown to Italy.Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson received a $1,200 congratulatory floral arrangement from Oprah Winfrey.And Justice Sonia Sotomayor received nearly $150,000 in book royalties from her publisher.These are a few of the things detailed in the annual financial disclosure forms released Wednesday by seven members of the Supreme Court.

It's fair to say that there's cautious optimism right now for Mexico's men's national team.In a new era under manager Diego Cocca, who was hired in February after Mexico's dismal group stage exit in last year's World Cup, El Tri have kicked off 2023 with a three-game undefeated run.Advancing to the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League knockout round with a win (2-0 vs. Suriname) and a draw (2-2 vs. Jamaica), as well as making things difficult for the U.S. men's national team in a 1-1 draw during an April friendly, Cocca has done a decent job of laying down a foundation that focused on his pragmatic style of play.

Binance Co-Founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, speaks during a press conference at the Europe's largest tech conference, the Web Summit, in Lisbon on Nov. 2, 2022.The SEC sued Binance and CZ on Monday, saying the company misled customers among other charges.Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images U.S. regulators are targeting more giants in the world of crypto.

Mark Zuckerberg embraced a digital world known as the metaverse when he said in November 2021 that he was changing his company's name from Facebook to Meta.A month later, Bill Gates, a founder of Microsoft, wrote that within two or three years, he believed most virtual meetings would transition from two-dimensional grids of video to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars.

It's been a sobering spring for one of the North's major residential landlords.The Northview Canadian High Yield Residential Fund a major residential landlord in the North, owning the lion's share of private, multi-unit rental housing in Yellowknife and Iqaluit has seen its stock drop in value in recent months.

Residents with disabilities, advocates and a Toronto city councillor are calling on the province to help the TTC expand its Wheel-Trans program, in a bid to stop its plan to divert half of its existing customers onto its conventional transit system.Scarborough North coun.Jamaal Myers, who's also the chair of the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee, says he's concerned over the lack of expanded funding from the provincial government needed to support the increase in Wheel-Trans use over the years.

Metrolink has again partially suspended rail services in Orange County because of landslides and falling debris near a train station in San Clemente, according to service alerts.Services had just restarted a week ago from an earlier closure when transportation officials discovered a landslide Monday morning, closing the tracks between San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

A train derailment a year ago in the German Alps that left five people dead was caused primarily by damaged concrete ties on the track, investigators said Thursday.The double-deck regional train derailed on June 3, 2022, shortly after leaving the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for Munich.

SAN FRANCISCO A top Twitter executive responsible for safety and content moderation has left the company, her departure coming soon after owner Elon Musk publicly complained about the platform's handling of posts about transgender topics.The departure pointed to a fresh wave of turmoil among key officials at Twitter since Musk took over last year.

Households with traditional prepayment meters have been urged to avoid missing out on 400 worth of help with their bills by June 30, with 130 million still available to be claimed.The Claim Your Energy Voucher Day is a final push to encourage the remaining households to claim their vouchers before the scheme ends in a month.

In this Oct. 8, 2019, file photo, the Central Arizona Project canal runs through rural desert near Phoenix.The canal diverts Colorado River water down a 336-mile long system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines to the state of Arizona.Ross D. Franklin/AP A new report from the state of Arizona predicts severe groundwater shortages in the Phoenix area.

This weekend Manchester City will contest the FA Cup final with Manchester United at Wembley.It's the first time the two rivals have ever met in the final and represents the past and present of English football dominance.For years Manchester United were the all-powerful force, now it is Manchester City.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has said the Conservative government will not be remembered for its convictions, but the convictions of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.Speaking at a rally in Edinburgh as he and four prominent Labour politicians launched a group aimed at reforming the UK, the former premier took aim at the Tories as he talked up his party's chances at the general election expected next year.